36 horsepower

[vw7266]

Does anyone run a 36 hp motor on their buggy? I think it would be some what traditional being that many biggies ive seen were built on oval window era pans

[manxcraig]

Back in 1969 a friend of mine built a buggy from a 1958 beetle his dad bought new. He got some huge rear tires that were used down at the Indy 500, Goodyear bluestreaks maybe? The buggy would run faster in third gear than it would in fourth. About 45 MPH was all it would do. He soon bought a 1500S from a type 3.

My buggy, built from a 1965 bug with a 40 HP wasn't much better, and was a 1600 DP as soon as I could afford it.

So, "back in the day" the guys with buggys that I knew ran type 3 engines or Corvairs.
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69 Meyers Manx II on 65 pan, 1 owner !
WANTED, Meyers Manx license plate frames, repo OK, don't like the new smiles per miles ones.

[BL3Manx]

My Manx had a 36hp its first 6 years, 68-74. Meyers actually sold a Sidewinder exhaust for the 36hp, which I had. I used it in the Egyptian desert and drove it from Athens to Oslo and back one summer. I also did 95 mph+ down hill on an autobahn with a tailwind, but flat out no wind it was good for just about 60. I eventually had a desire for more power and upgraded to a 1300. I'm building a single seat street rail with a 1L engine now, hoping for 100mph and 60+ mpg.

[Manx102]

Also from "back in the day" a few of our 40 plus Fun Bug Buggy Club members ran the 36hp motors. But the most popular overall VW engine in the club was the 1500 53hp motor with maybe half of our members running it.

_________________
"The simplest of outdoor adventures - the most treasured memories." - Bruce Meyers
54 years of "outdoor adventures" and "treasured memories" with our Manx in my gallery.

[Manx102]

[frizzardking]

I just bought this Manx 2 with an old 36 on it

[vw7266]

Great info...im really thinking about putting my 36hp okrasa motor on the buggy im building now

[crack monkey]

[monomanx]

I am running a 40 HP engine in my old manx. I bumped up the displacement with 83mm jugs from the original 77mm jugs. It is fine for my purposes although I recently have been trawling the vintage speed forums regarding getting just a little more oomph from it. Out on the freeway it will run around 65mph..but that is it.
The VIN on my car is an engine number from a 36 HP engine. It worked out to be a 57. Interestingly enough the front beam was also the same vintage (stamped KP beam) but had been changed to later drums...presumably for better brakes.

A Judson SC engine would be very cool. I had often hoped to chance on an old mid 60s 356 engine and install it in my manx..but the prices are a bit too much for my blood.

Chris

[Roscoe]

I run a stock vw replacement engine in my '69 Manx. It was originally built on a '58 pan with a 36 that eventually quit on the original builder. After that he went to VW bought a 40hp and mated it up to the '58 split case tranny. To this day the engine purrs and has plenty of power for me. Gets awesome gas mileage too. Hauls ass on the freeway as well, although I'm certainly sticking with the right lane. The only thing I'd like to do is perhaps switch it out with a '67 tranny I have. Not sure if I'll lose my awesome power band curve I have now though?? I'm currently running the original bias ply 14" wheels the original owner built the buggy with. I love the bias ply too and have no intentions of running radials. Ever! [/url]

[url][/url]

[BL3Manx]

[LeeVW]

My rail buggy had a 40HP engine, which was eventually upgraded to a 1600 DP. My Manx started out with a 1600 DP and was eventually upgraded to a 1776. Needless to say, once I've experienced a power increase, I have never had any desire to go back whatsoever.

Lee

[joemama]

Back in 1972, I helped a friend build a buggy, all used parts, including the body. I remember, he bought a shortened pan, and it was not welded together, but brazed. He bought an oval bug as a donor, and we borrowed a friends cutting torch and cut up the body and took it to the dump. That summer, we towed the buggy (with a Ford Courier, very slow going) from Los Angeles to Florence, Oregon. We spent a week running around the dunes. With the 36 hp motor, we could not get out of 2nd gear in the sand, and never went into any bowls, Im sure we would not have gotten out. We did go on what was called competition hill, but came down it, not up. We had a great time, and only ran into 3 or 4 other buggies while out there. We saw a water pumper with a 396 chevy, and a 4 speed, running only 2nd and 3rd if I remember right, and also a turbo corvair that spun a wheel adapter, and some where I have a picture of the tire flying thru the air, and later of the same rail, running a stock vw rim and tire on 1 side.
My friend then went overboard, and he bought an adapter from Joe Kennedy when his shop was on Glenoaks Blvd. in Sun Valley, and we installed I think it was a 196 cubic inch Buick V6, along with the stock Buick Special radiator, hung off the Baja Bug style rear bumper, we flipped the fan around, so it would push air, not pull. This set up was a complete disaster, as it broke the tranny a couple of times. The biggest problem was that everything would flex when we gave it gas, and the fan would eat the rediator. Off came the Buick, and we settled on a 40 horse with a big bore kit, and what I kind of remember was a 2 barrel Carter that competed with the Holley Bug Spray. The buggy remained in this configuration for the next 3 years or so, and both he and I would drive it, until it was stolen from his place of work at the local municipal airport. It was as a result of my showing my then 6 year son pictures of that old buggy, that we built our current buggy.
A 36 horse would be kind of neat as special interest, but a 1600 or larger, with 12 volt electrics, makes for a much more fun and practical buggy, in my opinion.

[SBD]

[( . Y . )]

[vw7266]

Well it took a while but I did it original 36hp okrasa motor in my buggy.

[oprn]

Very pretty!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[dustymojave]

Back in the 1960s, AMT came out with a 1/25 scale model kit of a Meyers Manx. It was a model actually of a full scale buggy owned by a guy who worked as an external consultant for AMT and wrote magazine articles. Don Emmon's car had a 36hp engine with dual Weber single barrel carbs and chrome tinwork. The kit has been re-issued MANY times since then, as recently as a couple of years ago. And several other versions have been produced, including a T-V Buggy, like a Berry's Mini-T. It STILL has that same 36hp engine in all versions.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[oprn]

There you go!

_________________
We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[dustymojave]

Thanks OPRN. I just didn't want to go get one of my kits out and take pics and upload them.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.